Bereavement
by Kitsama
Summary: [AU] They'd been stealing things all their life. But when they receive a client that hires them to find all 14 peices of a ancient item of untold power, the race is on and everyone in the world seems against them. How much are they getting paid for this?
1. Chapter 1

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Bereavement _**

**_Chapter 1: Prologue

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The National Museum in Cairo, Egypt was silent. The air had a slightly stale taste to it, most warm places did. It was usually dark for a capital city and the grounds of the national museum were not an exception. All the tourists had gone back to their hotels and the staff had cleared out.

The only people that wandered the halls of the museum were the night security. Most people didn't envy their job. They had to walk around a huge building with dead bodies in it by themselves. It wasn't just that the bodies were dead. Oh no, they were wrapped up in nasty rotted cloth. Plus the chance of being cursed by said dead bodies… not pleasant…

It didn't help when you were a sissy. One such man was Jamul Swithens, or has most people called him, Jimmy. He had a boring name. He had had a boring life as well. He'd grown up in the states before moving to Egypt when he was 14. If it had been anyone else it might have made him seem more exotic but not Jimmy. He lived down the street from his mother and he had never had a girlfriend. Jimmy wasn't a risk taker; he had only taken this job because he had no other skills. So Jimmy was a sissy.

Jimmy shined his flashlight around the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He tried not to jump at the warped shadows the items gave on the walls. This room wasn't ordinary; there was a coffin in the corner. He remembered that story about all those people that had been cursed by King Tut. It wasn't Tut's body in there but it was probably a distant relative of some sort. For all Jimmy knew placing curses on people was a family thing.

The security guard suppressed a shudder before turning to walk out of the room. He didn't understand why security was necessary. What were the chances someone would try to steal something from a museum anyway. That kind of thing didn't happen in real life. Movies maybe, but it couldn't happen now days.

As Jimmy was leaving the room he failed to notice two suspended forms hanging from the ceiling. They watched the security officer walk out of the room before giving small sighs of relief.

"That was close." The first one whispered as he began to lower himself to the ground.

His face was covered so that only his eyes were visible and he was wearing form-fitting clothes, the long time attire of a thief.

His partner blew out another sigh and nodded. "It's right under us. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," the man reached up and turned on the two way earpiece under his ski-mask. "Hey Koinu, are you ready with that distraction."

There was a soft crackle of static before a short angry answer came from the person on the other end of the line.

"_Don't call me that."_

"Kagome calls you that."

"_You're pushing it Miroku."_

"Cute little Koinu…"

The person on the other line cut him off. _"It's set, you have 90 seconds. I'll get you back after you get the bracelet asshole."_

The line was cut off. Miroku chuckled to himself before turning back to his companion. Her face was covered, as his was, but he could tell that she was glaring at him.

"Don't call him that."

"You call him that."

"Exactly, it was my idea so stop using it to tease him."

"Hmm…"

The conversation was cut short as a loud boom echoed through the museum. Kagome and Miroku quickly lowered themselves down the ground

Alarms were going off at other end of the museum and all the doors the exhibits were automatically closed and locked. They were closed in but the security was closed out. It was a long time fault of any security system anywhere. Lock all the doors so that the thief is locked inside the museum, humbly waiting to be taken to jail. Then the police all congratulate each other and go out for donuts.

Sadly life doesn't work like it does on TV.

Kagome and Miroku took their time cutting a hole out of the protective glass around the Bracelet of Queen Ahhotep. It wasn't the most famous treasure that had been recovered from King Tut's tomb but it was worth a whole lot of money. In the end isn't that the only thing that matters?

Kagome slipped her hand in the small hole and extracted the bracelet. She held it up slightly peering at it intently before giving a small nod and handing it to Miroku.

He pulled out a small case from his pocket and carefully placed the bracelet in the center.

"Well this was easy." Miroku said shedding his black clothes. He pulled the ski mask off and ruffled his hair back into place. "How much do you think we'll get for it?"

"The woman sounded desperate on the phone and Shippo says that the first half of our payment has gone through."

Miroku nodded and walked toward the front of the exhibit where an iron gate had dropped down from the ceiling, caging the two thieves inside. Kagome fell silent as she gazed through the bars of the gate. Miroku noticed that her eyes were gleaming happily with anticipation. It was the tell-tale signs that she was beginning to get into character. She _had_ been an actress before she had been corrupted by the little group the four of them made. She had been born to perform.

Miroku was suddenly broken from his thoughts when Kagome called out to someone passing by the gate.

" Hey can you help us out? We were patrolling the room when the gate closed on us. "

Miroku also walked closer to the gate so he could peer out at the security officer who had been rushing by. He only understood less than half of what his companion was saying, not being as fluent in Egyptian as Kagome.

The officer, who just happened to be the one who had almost walked in on Miroku and Kagome's thievery, eyed them warily.

" This is my sector. What are you too doing here? "

" Could you let us out? " Miroku managed to say.

Jimmy frowned at the man's accent. He didn't remember anyone he worked with to have such a strange way of speaking. Kagome's eyes became desperate.

" Can you speak English? "

"Of course I can." Jimmy scoffed, still eyeing the pair suspiciously.

Miroku's grin widened. He could defiantly speak English.

"We know we weren't supposed to be in here but you know…we just started dating." Miroku drawled while wrapping his arm around Kagome. The woman's face remained pleading as she stared at Jimmy, but Miroku could feel her tense.

Jimmy's eyes lit with understanding and Miroku's smile widened. Jimmy walked forward to enter the code to the room to let the couple out.

"You're luck I came along. I'm the only one who knows this code. You two would have gotten in trouble if anyone else had found out what you were doing in there."

"Thanks a lot." Kagome sighed in mock relief as she ducked under the gate as it rose. She drew back her fist and punched Jimmy into oblivion when he turned towards her again.

The guard crumbled to the ground like paper as Kagome peeled her gloves off and stuffed them in her deep pockets. Miroku reached back into the room to grab the small duffle bag with all of their clothes and equipment in it.

"Did you have to punch him?" he asked as he walked around the prone guard's body on the ground.

Kagome turned to Miroku with an angry look. "As soon as we get out of here, I'm going to hurt you. Then I'll tell Inuyasha and Sango about your little display back there so they can hurt you too."

Miroku flinched and quickly tried to defend himself as the two thieves walked calmly down the hallway. Thanks to Inuyasha's bomb at entrance A, all the security appeared to have left their posts to investigate. All according to plan.

Thankfully this museum had more than one exit and Inuyasha being as talented as he was with explosives as well as hacking past any kind of security system, he should have no problem making sure Kagome and Miroku got out fine. Sango would be waiting for them in the car they had rented under one of their fake names and they would be out of the country by morning.

"_Hey where are you two?" _Growled a voice from both Kagome's and Miroku's earpieces.

"We are 1 minute, 30 seconds away from entrance B. Are you ready for us?" Miroku said quickening his walk, Kagome doing the same next to him.

"_Do you have the bracelet?" _Inuyasha asked distractedly. Miroku could tell simply by his voice that Inuyasha had begun to hack into the security system of the museum. He didn't wait for an answer. _"You have a 30 second window in 5…4…3…2…1…"_

Kagome pulled the door open and ducked into the shadow of the building.

"When will you and Sango be at point C?" she asked Inuyasha through the microphone attached to the front of her shirt.

"_2.47 minutes."_

"Have you ever been wrong?" she asked turning her nose up at his precise answer.

"_Keh…No…"_

Miroku shook his head in wry amusement as he peered around. The back of the museum looked much like the back of warehouse. There were large storage trucks lined up waiting to be filled with the newest exhibit that was going on tour. What better time to steal something from the museum when its security was least organized?

"_The gates going to open for 30 seconds and I'll black out all the cameras in the area…Go, now."_

Miroku and Kagome sprinted out from the cover of the shadows to the back gate at the end of the museum grounds. The gate opened as soon as they reached it and shut right behind them. A black BMW pulled up and stopped in front of them. The two thieves skidded to a stop and calmly opened the doors slipping in the cool interior of the car.

Kagome smiled at the driver of the car it smoothly slid down the road. "Hey Sango, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha, who was sitting next to her in the back seat, glanced up at her and grunted.

Kagome proceeded to take off the stolen security uniform and handed it to Miroku who had already taken his off and was stuffing it into another duffel bag. She fanned herself with her hands and tugged on her T-shirt.

"Next time, if we have to wear so many layers, let's go somewhere cool, like Canada."

"Superb idea," Miroku said as he reached to turn on the AC, also trying to cool down.

"Nothing to steal in Canada," Sango said shaking her head with a smile as she jerked the wheel, the car skidding around a corner. "Britain maybe…"

Inuyasha shook his head but kept his eyes on his laptop. "No…I just got a message from the runt. We're headed home for now."

"Where's the drop off for the bracelet?" Miroku asked turning around in his seat to look at Inuyasha.

The hacker's golden eyes flashed as his computer screen was reflected twice in them. His long platinum blond hair, hung in his face as his posture slumped even more.

"The runt didn't say."

"Maybe the contact will call us herself." Kagome muttered, her voice muffled as she reached under Miroku's seat for the cooler they had stashed there, full of water and soda.

Miroku yawned and shrugged as he turned back to face the front. Sango noticed and glanced at him, then at Kagome through the rearview mirror.

"You guys can get some sleep if you want. It's going to be a long drive to Libya. We'll wake you when we reach the boarder."

Kagome smiled gratefully at the other woman as she stretched out in the back seat resting her head on Inuyasha's knee. He glanced down at her as she easily fell asleep, then he then glanced up at Miroku to make sure that he was doing the same.

"Don't worry Inuyasha, if he wakes up I'll tell you." Sango said, trying hard not to laugh as she kept her eyes on the road.

She took a sharp turn onto the interstate but everyone in the car was used to her aggressive driving style and remained unaffected. Inuyasha pulled a pair of silver rimmed glasses from his pocket and glanced at Kagome and Miroku warily before slipping them on.

"I don't understand why you're so ashamed because you wear glasses." Sango said softly while calmly swerving around a large truck.

"I shouldn't need them."

"So, I think you look cute. I'm sure Kagome would appreciate a change in wardrobe though."

"Shut up Sango, before I blow you up."

* * *

"_Shippo, has the contact called you yet?"_

Shippo minimized his simulation game and brought up the communication link that Inuyasha had made for him. His small face upturned into a smirk.

"You get the bracelet?"

"_Use your pint sized brain. Of course we got the bracelet. What about our money?"_

Shippo peered into his computer and proceeded to spin around in his desk chair for a few seconds before looking up at Inuyasha again. "Is the bracelet pretty?"

"_If you want your 15 percent you better stop messing with me. I _do _have access to your computer you know."_

Shippo quickly sobered and began to pull up information, sending it quickly to the hacker before he did anything _unfortunate _to Shippo's 'baby'. "I'm also sending you info on a new client. No name, which isn't a big surprise. He says she wants to meet you personally."

Inuyasha was silent for a few seconds as his eyes scanned the new data. Shippo took the opportunity to spin around in his chair a few more times. He quickly got dizzy and decided to stop, turning back to Inuyasha's image on his desktop. "So what do you think?"

"_We just got home a few hours ago. Miroku will be in contact." _With that the connection was severed.

Shippo huffed angrily and pulled up his simulator again. "Not even a thank you…sometimes I think I should charge more. Jeez…dealing with that for just 15 percent…"

A voice called out from downstairs, cutting off Shippo's angry muttering. "Shippo dear, it's time for dinner…you got another check in the mail from Tashio Inc. too!"

"Okay, I'll be right down!" Shippo's eyes didn't stray from the computer screen as his small hands flew over his keyboard. "Die, stupid…brainless…Die Damn it!"

"I mean now Shippo! Get off the computer before I throw it away!"

Shippo bared his teeth but he did pause the game before jumping down from his desk chair and bounding down the steps. His mother greeted him with an irritated look but his father chuckled and ruffled his son's hair when he sat down next to him at the table.

"Honestly, what do you _do _on that thing all day?"

Shippo rolled his eyes at his mother's grumbling and dove into his dinner. He knew that she actually expected an answer, unlike most parents. "Nothing really…pass the salt?"

"Sure Kokoro, what else cold you expect an 11 year old to do on the computer…pass the pepper?"

"I don't know…it seems that he's spending so much time on it…pass the rice?"

"It's not that long mom," Shippo mumbled around a mouth full of food, "…pass the salt?"

"It's right next to you,"

"Thanks mom,"

"So those checks have been coming in for quite a while now. When do you think they'll stop?"

"Kokoro, who cares? It helps pay the bills…pass the pepper?"

"It's right next to you,"

"Thanks dear,"

Shippo's mother sighed as Shippo finished stuffing his dinner into his mouth. He jumped down from the table, still chewing his meal. He paused long enough to peck his mother on the cheek in thanks for dinner before bounding back up the stairs.

"It's just not healthy to spend that much time in his room. Instead of buying him that new computer part he wanted we should get him a bike, don't you think?"

Takaku nodded vaguely and smiled at his wife. "That's nice…pass the pepper?"

Kokoro blew out a sigh and went back to picking at her food.

* * *

Kagome stretched as she ambled into the kitchen, her jaw cracking as she gave a huge yawn. 

"Hello Kagome."

Kagome nodded vaguely towards Sango as the young woman stood at the stove, cooking eggs by the smell. She plopped down onto the bench at the breakfast nook and leaned back, closing her eyes.

"Where are the guys? They're going to miss the food."

Sango looked up from her cooking with a sour look. "Inuyasha's still in his room and Miroku's looking up information on our new client." the older girl suddenly broke into a smile. "It seems like this one is a high payer. Shippo scored big time."

Kagome's sleepy looked turned into an excited one. "So where are we going this time? I've always wanted to go to Italy. Are we going there?"

Sango shrugged, "Maybe…"

Sango set the platter of eggs in front of Kagome and pulled two small plates from the cabinet. Kagome started eating as Sango poured a cup of coffee. She put five teaspoons of sugar in it and held the cup in one hand as she ruffled through the refrigerator with the other. She pulled out a few energy bars and vitamin water and closed the fridge door with her foot.

Kagome finished her eggs and watched Sango began a count down.

"3…2…1…"

Both Inuyasha and Miroku ambled into the kitchen from opposite sides at the same time.

Inuyasha had one of their communicators in his hand, screwdriver in his mouth and a length of wires running down his arm as he fiddled with the small piece of equipment. Miroku had a large stack of papers in both hands and was pushing a box with his foot.

They both walked around the island and sat down on either side of Kagome without looking up.

"Sango?" both voices called at the same time.

Sango smiled and placed the coffee in front of Inuyasha and the energy bars and vitamin water in front of Miroku. They both groped around the table and Sango pushed the items into each man's reach with a sigh.

"Thanks," two voices chorused together.

Kagome snorted and reached for more eggs.

"Hey where'd the…"

"Here Kagome, I made extra." Sango dumped a pile of eggs onto Kagome's plate directly from the skillet.

Inuyasha and Miroku both looked up and blinked. "You made eggs?" They asked at the same time, eyes pleading.

Sango nodded and smiled. "Correct, I made eggs. Kagome ate the eggs because she showed up to breakfast on time and actually _eats food_, unlike you two."

"Well maybe if you'd save us some eggs we'd eat them," Miroku whined as he watched Sango dig into her own food.

Kagome burped loudly as she finished her second helping and got to her feet. "I'll be playing with the guns if you need me."

Miroku looked up from Sango to pin Kagome with a grin. "I don't think so. We have to get ready to meet our new client."

Kagome slid back into her seat and glanced at her partners with a confused frown. "_Meet_ the client? As in see their face?"

Miroku nodded and reached for the box near his feet. He pulled out a stack of papers and tapped them lightly on the table, clearing his throat as he readied himself to begin. When he looked up he was rewarded with three glares.

"Was that necessary?" Sango asked as she raised one for her eyebrows.

Miroku smiled and straightened the papers again. "I believe it most definitely was."

"Get on with it," Inuyasha snapped from behind his cup of coffee.

"Okay then…Name: Kagura Kaze. Date of birth: 1978. Current address located in Salt Lake City, Utah, although she hasn't been seen there for many months. I wasn't able to find anything about her living relatives so I'm guessing that she doesn't _have_ any." Miroku cleared his throat. "Her current occupation is _classified_. I couldn't find much on her."

Sango looked up from her eggs to glance at all the papers Miroku had brought with him. "If you couldn't find much, then what's all that?"

"Information on the item she wants us to…acquire for her."

"Why not just say steal?" Inuyasha asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Acquire sounds far more professional and far less illegal."

Inuyasha just grunted.

Sango looked up from her empty plate and burped. "When and where?"

"Soon and I have no idea. Shippo said that she should be contacting us within the next few days. She told him that she wanted to meet us personally and that she would be coming to us."

Kagome shook her head in confusion. "That's odd. She must be a newbie."

Miroku shrugged and was about to comment when a loud sizzling sound cut him off. Everyone turned to stare at Inuyasha who was blinking owlishly into space. His hands, as well as the communicator that rested between them, was smoking and his long hair was standing on end. Three of the thieves were silent as they gazed at their fourth companion.

"Inuyasha?"

Said hacker/inventor turned to Kagome and he blinked. "What?"

"Did you just electrocute yourself?"

Inuyasha went back to staring into space. "Yeah…I think I did…"

"Are you okay?" Sango asked slowly, waving a hand in front of his face.

He nodded.

"This makes it 487 times this year Inuyasha," Miroku stated worriedly.

Another silent nod.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kagome asked hesitantly touching his shoulder.

Inuyasha just nodded and staggered to his feet.

"Where are you going!" Kagome exclaimed jumping up after him.

Inuyasha turned back to give them another blank stare. "I'm going…to take a nap. Under no circumstances…is anyone to wake me. If I'm not out here by this time tomorrow call the morgue."

Sango, Miroku and Kagome nodded and Inuyasha staggered down the hallway to the wing of the house that he called home. The kitchen fall silent as the three remaining people in it watch the place he had disappeared. After a few moments of stillness Miroku coughed and got to his feet. Both Kagome and Sango jumped and turned to glare at him. He blinked in surprise.

"What? I didn't do anything."

The two women glared at him for a few moments more before looking away.

"I'll be playing with the weapons," Kagome said.

"I'll be in the garage," Sango said seconds later.

"I'm going to find my camera before Inuyasha gets his hair to lie down again," Miroku said seconds after Sango.

Then the three of them disappeared down separate hallways without looking back.

"So…what information were you able to gather?"

"There are four of them. The youngest's name is Kagome Higurashi. She's 19 years old. She went to collage for acting, history and foreign language for 2 years before dropping out. She was born in Japan but she hasn't been there for many years. I was unable to find more than that."

"The others?"

"The next, Inuyasha Tashio. He's also 19 years old. He finished high school in under 3 years but never applied for collage, despite the many scholarships he was offered. He was born in Japan but when his mother died he moved to California to live with his father. After he finished high school at age 15 he fell off the face of the earth. No records exist on him after that."

"Very well. Continue."

"The next Sango Tatakau. She's 21 years old. She also finished high school early. She graduated at 16 and went to MIT tech for engineering. She dropped out after 3 years and there are no records of her existence after that. She was born in California but moved to Illinois when she was 7.

"I want information on her family. All you can give me. I want to have leverage over them."

"Yes sir…"

"Continue."

The oldest is Miroku Kibarashi. He's 24 years old. I have no information on him at all."

"Why is that?"

"There isn't any."

"Look again."

"Yes sir."

"I want to know as much as I can before you meet with them."

"Yes sir."

* * *

**(AN): **New story? Yes I think so. Updates will be slow but long. Sorry folks. Review and tell me what you think. Is it horrible? Should I cut off my fingers and never write again?

Are coconuts seeds?

(Muse: No they're fruits. We've been through this.)

(coughs)

Read and Review. No I don't own Inuyasha. Go Sparky Go!


	2. Chapter 2

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_**Bereavement**_

**_Chapter2: Planning_**

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When Kagome walked into the kitchen the next day it was empty. There was no breakfast waiting for her today. The young woman sighed and gave a mental shrug. It wasn't like she was any different from Miroku or Inuyasha when it came to eating. Sango was the only thing preventing all three of them from having a constant diet of junk-food.

She walked forward and tugged open the huge industrial fridge and buried herself inside, trying to find something quick so she could go back to her babies.

"Hmm…I need to pick up a new scope for my snipe. …Miroku said he'd try to get me one once we got home. He's probably forgot."

"Are you talking to yourself?"

Kagome's head snapped up and she would have banged her head on the top of the fridge if it weren't for the hand that had suddenly placed itself between her skull and the hard stainless steel.

The person tisked and nudged her out of the way. "If you're going to take that long, then move."

Kagome blinked in surprise as Inuyasha shoved her out of the way and took her place, buried to his shoulders in the fridge.

"Did you have a good nap?"

Inuyasha looked up at her with a glare before going back to what he had been doing. He finally pulled out a bagel and a bottle of water and stumbled over to the breakfast nook to eat. For the first time Kagome noticed that he was still sporting the pair of baggy red plaid flannel pajama pants and the white T-shirt he'd been wearing yesterday.

"Did you just wake up?" she asked in surprise. "You've been asleep for a full day?"

Inuyasha gave an overdramatic yawn, opened his water, and nodded all at the same time. "I could've slept longer…" he paused to rub the yawn induced moisture from his eyes. "…but I told you guys to call the morgue if I didn't come out."

Kagome sat down next to him with her own breakfast; some cold takeout from the night before. "Well the last time we tried to wake you up, you wouldn't, so Sango panicked."

"I was asleep!"

"You were hardly breathing, you're eyes were half open and since you had turned the AC in your room all the way down, you were ice cold!"

Inuyasha shook his head and tore into his bagel. "I _need_ to keep the temperature low in there. That's where all my computers are."

"Yeah…and now you sleep in your chair at your desk because you don't know where your bed is."

"I _know_ where it is," Inuyasha muttered with a sullen look.

"Oh yeah?" Kagome asked in mock surprise. "Where is it?"

"Somewhere in my room."

Kagome shook her head in defeat and huffed out a sigh.

"What are you two yelling in here about?" Sango asked as she walked into the kitchen.

Kagome and Inuyasha jumped and tried to hide their food underneath the table.

"Nothing!" they both said at once.

Sango narrowed her eyes. "You were in here eating junk food weren't you?"

Inuyasha glared at her and pulled his bagel back out from under the table.

"This is _hardly_ junk food."

"It's not well balanced enough! You haven't eaten for a full day!" Inuyasha just grunted and took another bite out of his bagel. "And if you knew that it wasn't junk food, why did you try to hide it?"

Inuyasha glared at her before mumbling something that sounded like 'reflex'. Sango stared at him for a moment before turning her gaze to Kagome, who was wolfing down her takeout as fast as she could. The young woman gave a loud burp and a sigh of contentment.

"Sorry Sango. I've already eaten."

Sango sighed but could do nothing as both Inuyasha and Kagome threw their trash away and stepped around her so that they could walk out of the kitchen. Before Inuyasha could leave Sango jumped in front of him and clasped her hands together. She made her face as serious as she could and stared him in the eye.

"Inuyasha?"

He narrowed his eyes at the slightly pleading tone in her voice and crossed his arms while Kagome watched, amused, behind him.

"Can you _please_ look at the GPS on my Porsche? I don't know what I did but I may have reset the computer when I was detailing it yesterday. I swear I didn't do it on purpose and this is the last time it'll happen."

Inuyasha gave Sango a mild glare before heaving a sigh. "I'll see if I can get to it."

Sango beamed. "Thanks because when I reset the computer, I _might_ have messed up the system you put on there."

Inuyasha's face fell and he gaped at her in surprise. "The link I put in to our communicators? And the one to my computer? The coding system--,"

"Yeah…yeah…I might've messed that up…"

Inuyasha's eyes widened and he ran a hand through his bangs. "I worked on that for months. I obsessed over it until it was perfect. I ripped out chunks of my hair…"

Sango was looking very guilty now and gave him a little pat on the arm. "I'm really sorry. But I swear I'll never do it again!"

Inuyasha snapped a glare on her and rubbed a hand over his face, groaning as he did so. "Do you have--,"

"Yes I know how long it took. Yes I know how long it _might_ to take to fix. I said I was sorry," Sango said, interrupting Inuyasha when he began to moan again. "It won't take _that_ long to fix, will it?"

Inuyasha glared again before shaking his head. "I don't know what you broke. I can't tell you how long it'll take."

"Then stop blaming until you have a reason to."

Inuyasha just bared his teeth at her in a dog-like snarl and pushed by her so he could stomp out of the kitchen. A second later the two women could hear Miroku yelp in pain from down the hallway.

"Jeez Inuyasha! Watch where you stomp those elephant feet!"

There was a pause before they could hear Miroku suddenly shriek in pain. Kagome and Sango glanced at each other in alarm before running the few feet to where Miroku was curled up in a ball on the floor, both hands holding the area between his legs. He looked up at them with watering eyes and whined.

"What'd I _do_? Oh God…I'm gonna _die_…"

Kagome choked on a snort of laughter and had to turn away for a moment as she fought to control herself. Sango was slightly more sympathetic.

"Sorry Miroku. It was kinda my fault. I told him what happened to the Porsche…"

"You could've warned me!" Miroku squeaked in protest, his eyes still watering.

Kagome couldn't hold it in anymore and collapsed on the tiled hallway, laughing so hard she couldn't breathe. Miroku whimpered and curled in on himself more.

OXOXOXOXO

* * *

OXOXOXOXO

Tashio Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed as he listened to the bumbling security guard in front of him. This was the 27th interview he'd had to conduct in the last two days and the police chief's already thin patience was about disappear completely.

" Mr. Swithens, " Sesshoumaru said coolly in smooth Egyptian, causing the guard to jump and grip his plastic cup full of bitter coffee tighter. " No one is blaming you for the events that transpired at the museum. But I require your cooperation to find out exactly what happened. "

" But I told you! I haven't been home in almost two days! My mother is going to start worrying about me! "

Sesshoumaru hissed out an annoyed sigh and rubbed his temple with a tired hand. " Please go over it one more time, Mr. Swithens. "

The harried looking guard gave a violent shake of his head and crossed his arms. " I want a lawyer! "

Sesshoumaru gave a silent snarl and resisted punching the idiotic man's face in.

"Hey Chief! We've found something!"

Sesshoumaru dragged his head up and glanced over at one of his detectives. "Kitano have you ever interrogated anyone before?" The police chief asked in his native language.

The young man frowned and stepped fully into the room. "Of course I have."

Sesshoumaru turned back to the confused security guard with a cold smile. " I'm sorry Jamul Swithens, but I'll be handing you interrogation over to my colleague, Mr. Kitano. "

The detective blinked in surprise but said nothing as his boss brushed by him and out the door.

Once outside Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and tired to fight the emerging migraine. After a moment of just standing there he gave an inaudible sigh and began his trek down the hall of the Cairo Police Station they'd taken over. Soon he was outside the room his on-the-site techie had staked out. As soon as he'd opened the door a sharp bark sounded from the other side of the room.

"Take off your shoes!"

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed but he bent down to slide his shoes off and place them next to the door.

"Kitano came to tell me you found something, Aizu," he stated walking up to where the only source of light originated from.

A rather small looking woman sat front of three computer screens. She pecked at one of her keyboards a few times before leaning back and glancing up at her boss.

"I ran a scan of the museum's system and I found something. It was definitely him Chief. Oh man! What I wouldn't give to learn from him!"

"Anything _good_, Aizu?"

The woman thought for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "Not really. The only reason I know it's him is this bit of code here." Aizu pointed at a few lines of code on one of the screens with a little sigh. "I know we've come a long way in the past 50 years, but our guy is amazing. From what I can tell he masked himself as a security protocol. From there he would be able to control all the security bits that are connected to the network."

"Which is all of them," Sesshoumaru stated.

Aizu nodded and gestured back to the screen. "In this day and age everything's automated. Even the flush on your toilet. Welcome to the 21st century."

Sesshoumaru was silent for a moment before he moved to leave the room. "Carry on Aizu."

"Will do sir!"

Sesshoumaru slipped his shoes back on and closed the door. Down the hall he could hear Kitano shouting in Egyptian, no doubt trying to get the security guard to cooperate. The police chief paused for a moment, before moving down one of the hallways and slipping into an empty room. He pulled out his cell phone, dialed a number and waited for the person to pick up.

A few seconds later an over excited, male voice answered the phone. _"Hello?"_

"Hello father," Sesshoumaru said flatly. He heard the disappointed sigh from the older man, but made no comment.

"_Oh…hello Sesshoumaru. I was expecting your brother. Heard from him lately?"_

"If I had, he'd be under arrest, Father," Sesshoumaru answered smoothly. He heard his father chuckle into the phone.

"_You'd put your own brother in jail?"_

"He is a criminal. That is where criminals go."

"_So I guess he pulled off the Cairo job, then?"_

"Did you know what he was going to do?"

"_Of course not! I watch the news though," _he father answered, amusement lacing his voice.

"It's already on the news there?"

"_Heck yeah. CNN is having a freaking field day."_

Sesshoumaru closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Do you know where my brother is, Father?"

"_Somewhere in Japan; other than that, no."_

"If you are withholding information, I will contact the American government and have you shipped here and arrested for obstructing justice," Sesshoumaru threatened, his voice flat.

"_As you've said before. I have no idea where he and his friends are hiding. When he calls me he uses a cell phone, but when I try to call the number all I get is white noise."_

"Is that the number you gave us a few weeks ago?"

"_Yep."_

"Do you know how the American media found out about the theft here?"

"…"

"Obstruction of justice Father…"

"_The word is they got an anonymous tip from some guy. The American government contacted the Japanese government to find out if it was true,"_ Hoseki answered conversationally. _"From what I've found out, the American government wasn't too happy about not being told about such a high profile theft by someone of Japanese origin."_

"How did they know the thieves were Japanese?"

"_The tipper. They told the media that a special terrorist control group had been sent from Japan to Egypt to investigate a theft from the Cairo Museum. That would be your team right?"_

"That information is confidentional."

"_That'd be a yes than."_

"Do you have any thoughts on the identity of the tipper?"

"_I'm retired Sesshoumaru. I've passed the torch to your brother."_

"Yet you've managed to gather all that information."

Sesshoumaru heard his father sigh before giving in. _"At first I thought it might be Inuyasha but that didn't make much sense. I know he likes to leave trances of his presence behind. A bit of code here, a signature there but this was different. Then I thought maybe one of his friends had done it without telling him. But I know none of them are that stupid. The tipper knew some details that I'm not even sure Inuyasha and his friends would know about. Someone's stringing puppets, Sesshoumaru."_

"Have you been in contact with Inuyasha at all?"

"_No,"_ Hoseki answered bluntly.

"Father…"

"_No I haven't."_

"Do you think he is aware of what's happening now?"

"_If I know my son, he knows more than both of us combined."_

"Thank you for your assistance."

"_Happy to help."_

"If you hear from Inuyasha tell him I'm waiting to hear from him."

"_Will do."_

"Good bye father."

"_See ya Sesshou."_

Sesshoumaru flipped his phone shut with an inward sigh of frustration. He was the only first born son in a long while to not be a criminal. Luckily for Hoseki he'd had two sons and the family tradition was still being carried out.

Sesshoumaru was no fool and he knew that Inuyasha was no fool either. He wouldn't contact their father directly until he was sure Sesshoumaru was no longer keeping taps on Hoseki's phone lines and email. Inuyasha knew Sesshoumaru and so he would know that Sesshoumaru would do this until the law said he had to stop. Benefit of Doubt could only be applied for a certain number of weeks. In America it was two. After that Sesshoumaru's men had to take the taps off his father's phone lines.

The police chief shook his head and rubbed his temples with one hand, feeling completely drained. He needed sleep, and maybe something to eat. Just as he was getting to his feet to act on those thoughts Kitano ran into the room.

"Chief, that crazy guard got hold of one of the stun guns and is holding two people hostage in a broom closet!"

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed.

Kitano began to look a little nervous and fidgeted. "Umm…he demands a lawyer."

The muscle under Sesshoumaru's right cheek twitched.

"And he also says he is going to sue the 'whatever country we're from' government for being unnecessarily cruel to him."

A sharp breath was exhaled through clenched teeth and Kitano took a step back.

"He also said your accent sucks."

Sesshoumaru stood and practically glided from the room.

Kitano winced and followed the police chief as he stalked down the hall. He flinched when Sesshoumaru pulled his gun out of its holster. "Sir?"

"Which broom closet?"

Kitano ducked around his boss and led him to a corner of the station where many of Sesshoumaru's people had gathered, talking through the locked door of the closet.

" Please sir, you don't want to go to jail do you? What will your mother think? "

" You leave my mother out of this! " came the angry response from inside the closet.

Sesshoumaru walked up behind the mob piled around the door. They all turned around to stare at their boss in surprise.

"Move," he commanded without looking at them.

There was a mad shuffle as they all tried to get out of the path of the police chief's gun. The silver headed man narrowed his eyes and slowly pulled the trigger of his gun, blowing the lock off of the door in a single shot. He discreetly clicked the safety on right afterwards.

A loud squeal of fear came from the other side of the door. Sesshoumaru reached forward with one hand and tugged the door open.

" Hello Mr. Swithens. "

The Egyptian security guard was staring down at the muzzle of Sesshoumaru's gun in absolute terror. He made a strangled choking sound and stepped back against the wall of the small broom cupboard.

" It seems that you have conducted a terrorist action. Taking hostages is against the law. "

" Kitano please take note that the suspect has made no move to deny these charges, " Sesshoumaru ordered without taking his ocher eyes off the horror filled man in front of him. " Mr. Swithens, do you know that I have permission to shoot and kill anyone I think is committing acts of terrorism? That is my job. You are committing an act of terrorism. Should I kill you? "

The guard squeaked and moved to shake his head but Sesshoumaru interrupted him by taking a step back and speaking once again to Kitano. " Please note that I have been threatened by the suspect and that he refuses to back down or release his hostages. "

" Are you out of your bloody mind? " Jamul asked in a small scared voice, looking down at the two people with him in the closet as if asking for help. They just stared back up at him and shrugged. " I never threatened--, "

" Please note that Mr. Swithens has also threatened to do away with his hostages. Termination is in order. Goodbye Mr. Swithens. "

Sesshoumaru then proceeded to pull the trigger. Jamul screamed and ducked his head, managing to clip it on a protruding shelf. He fell back dazed as Sesshoumaru stalked away, placing his gun back into its holster. Kitano shook his head in bemusement at his boss as he began barking orders.

OXOXOXOXO

* * *

OXOXOXOXO 

"So we have to fly all the way to Europe to meet with a woman that we don't know about a rock?"

Miroku took a few deep breaths and curled his hand into a fist before opening his eyes again and looking up from his packing.

"It is not a rock."

Inuyasha picked up the print out of an ancient looking illustration. It showed a number of malformed human being like figures laying around a shining sphere of light.

There were a number of other illustrations, all showing basically the same thing in different styles. Inuyasha cocked his head to the side and placed the print outs down on a stack of other papers.

"Are you sure? It looks like a rock to me."

Miroku looked up from where he was shifting though a box full of files and glared at him. "Why are you in here?"

Inuyasha said nothing. The silence stretched out and was broken when Inuyasha began to drum his fingers on Miroku's desk. The dark haired man continued to stare at him and Inuyasha refused to meet his eyes.

Kagome and Sango complained about his room, but had they ever been in Miroku's? Instead of computer parts, Miroku's room was filled with over-flowing filing cabinets, loose papers, spirals and books on every boring subject known to man.

Inuyasha scowled and rested his chin on one of his palms. He hadn't told the others yet but right now was a really bad time for him to leave the country. His father would want contact with him soon and he still had to sort out the mess in the United States, to figure out what the hell happened.

Inuyasha was proud of his skills. Of course he was! Who in their right mind wouldn't be? He was 19 years old and already one of the world's most infamous hackers. His whole family had been thieves, some weird tradition of every first born son taking up the family business.

The scowl deepened for a moment as he thought of his older brother. Bastard.

Inuyasha had taken up the family business, while Sesshoumaru had gone to the police academy to come out with a job so high up in the defense department, he could probably order around the prime minister. That didn't turn out very good for Inuyasha because his brother was set on sending him, and anyone working with him, to jail.

But Sesshoumaru wasn't behind this whole media fiasco in the US anyway. It was something that seemed so stupid and pointless, he was sure no one that didn't have a personal vendetta against him or his friends would do such a thing. He wasn't even sure what the US government really knew. Did they have descriptions, profiles? He, Sango, Kagome and Miroku hadn't stolen anything big from the US yet. He hadn't hacked into government files lately. Who would want to alert the US of them? Miroku watched Inuyasha's expression change from frustrated, to tired, to prideful, before going back to frustrated and exhausted. He sighed before dropping what he was doing so he could sit next to Inuyasha at his desk. The other young man didn't even look up; he was so engrossed in his thoughts. Miroku watched the younger man for a bit before pulling his hand back and smacking him.

Inuyasha started away from him and managed to look affronted as he held his reddened cheek. "What the bloody fuck was that about!" he snapped angrily.

"You were beginning to act like a woman, so I treated you like one. How are you feeling now?"

His only answer was an angry huff and glare so hot it could evaporate all the oceans that ever existed in anyplace anywhere. Miroku just smiled at him.

"What's on your mind?"

Inuyasha scowled again and turned away with another angry huff. Miroku sat patiently next to him for a few moments, waiting for him to speak.

"Does it have anything to do with what's on the American news right now?"

The silence that the statement brought was enough of an answer for Miroku. The young man heaved a sigh and examined his younger companion for a long moment. He shook his head and laid a hand on the shoulder nearest to him.

"You wouldn't have told us, would you?"

Inuyasha snorted again and shrugged his friend's hand off him. "I didn't need to tell you. I have it under control. Find an ID, make a hit and fork out money."

Miroku's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline and he cocked his head to the side as he gazed at the white-haired male next to him. "Ah. But if it is so easy, than why is it troubling you?"

The question was only met with more silence.

"Let me guess. You're trying to figure out why anyone would do that, while praising yourself for your skills and thinking of your elder brother at the same time."

Inuyasha's eyes widened and turned to pin Miroku with an incredulous look. His mouth worked for a moment before he managed to get anything out. "Wha…?" He frowned in confusion and tried again. "How…?" He gave another angry huff and turned away. "That's freaky. You're freaky," he said bluntly.

"It really wasn't that hard. You're easy to read when you're not paying attention."

Inuyasha sighed and ran a hand over his face. "It's a bleeding nightmare. I have contacts screaming at me all over the place. We have to actually go _talk_ to this stupid woman about some stupid rock--,"

"It is not a rock," Miroku interrupted smoothly. "Continue."

"—which might not even exist. And _you_ still haven't told us everything because you're an asshole. I'm worried that we'll be compromised leaving the country because my brother might be a bastard but he's a damn smart bastard and he'll tighten security like a noose for as long as he can.

My father's being weird because it's about to be April. Sango broke everything on the Porsche but she insists she wants it for the next job because she says it needs to air out; which is ridiculous because it's a goddamned car, but I won't be able to fix it in time with all this madness with the American assholes…

…and I feel guilty for kneeing you yesterday."

Miroku blinked in surprise for a moment. "Uh, apology accepted?"

"Who said I apologized? I just said I felt guilty. I also feel that you deserved it."

"Okay…"

Inuyasha sighed again and rubbed his temples with a wearied hand. Miroku watched him like he might bite, but when Inuyasha showed no signs of doing so Miroku placed his hand back on his shoulder.

"Do you want to know what I think?"

"No. Piss off."

"I think that you should go in you room…Wait have you found your bed yet?"

Inuyasha glared at him.

"That's a no. Go in the living room and take a nap."

"A nap?"

"Yes."

Miroku cut Inuyasha off before he could protest. "I know you haven't slept since we got back. That morning when you went back to your room, you just went back to work," Miroku said seriously. "You're going to end up making yourself sick like you did last time."

"That was the flu," the hacker grumbled sullenly.

"That and the fact that you hadn't slept for more then 2 hours in 6 days."

"I don't need to take a nap," Inuyasha snapped angrily.

"You might not think you need to but the rest of us do. You get cranky when you don't sleep and honestly the others and I don't feel like dealing with it this time."

"What about--,"

"I'll get Shippo on it."

"Sango--,"

"--will survive."

"Dad'll--,"

"—understand."

Miroku could almost see the gears in Inuyasha's mind furiously working to find another excuse to throw at him but in the end there weren't any. The hacker looked slightly chagrin and Miroku congratulated himself silently for his victory.

"You'll wake me up won't you?"

"We don't have to leave until the end of the week. If you're out for more than a day I promise I will wake you up or I will allow you to knee me all you want," Miroku managed to say with a straight face.

Inuyasha blinked in surprise before giving a happy little grin. "Oh good."

He got to his feet and maneuvered through Miroku's things until he reached the threshold of the hallway. "You know that I'll take you up on that," he warned needlessly.

Miroku waved him off, already having turned back to his stack of papers.

OXOXOXOXOXO

* * *

OXOXOXOXOXO 

When Kagome walked through the living room on her way to Sango's garage at the end of the house, she blinked in surprise at what she saw. Inuyasha had stretched out on the overlarge couch, dead to the world. The TV was on but flipping through channels endlessly. When Kagome looked closer she saw that the remote was resting in the hackers limp hand, his thumb over one of the channel buttons. One of the chenille throws had been draped over him and he was using one of his arms as a pillow.

Kagome sighed and carefully pulled the remote out his hand, causing him to pull his hand in closer to his body and turn over on his side. She bit her lip to keep from laughing and turned the TV off. She stepped back and watched him for a moment before shaking her head and moving on.

"Hey Sango!"

The older woman appeared out from under one of her cars and waved Kagome over. She was slightly surprised to see Miroku there as well.

"Good timing Kagome. I just decided to take a break," Sango said with a smile as she stood up and brushed herself off.

"Here Sango let me help you," Miroku chirped happily, reaching forward to brush non-existent dirt from her lower back.

Sango intercepted him with the palm of her hand on his cheek. "I can do it myself, thank you."

Kagome made a face and followed Sango over to a small card-table and a few folding chairs were set out. The older woman collapsed into one with a huff and crossed her arms as she watched Miroku walk over with narrowed eyes.

Kagome sat down between them and turned to Sango with a questioning look on her face. "What's up with Inuyasha?"

"The pervert managed to get him to rest for a while," Sango answered stiffly, gesturing slightly malevolently at the dark haired man who only smiled at her in return.

Kagome turned to Miroku, who was poking his red cheek whilst grimacing, in awe. "How'd you manage to do it?"

"Wasn't that hard. He was really tired. All I had to do was assure him that everything would be taken care of."

Kagome still looked a little doubtful but shrugged it off.

"Now what's all this about us being on the American news?"

Sango leaned forward also, her interest peaked. Miroku smiled to himself and shook his head. "He thought we didn't know. I don't think he realises that we have contacts as well."

Kagome snorted disdainfully. "That's him all right."

"But what do we do about it?" Sango asked worriedly. "The best thing to do is to lie low for awhile, but we already have a new client."

"We could say no," Kagome threw in hesitantly.

There was a pregnant pause before they all chucked to themselves.

"No."

"Nah.

"Bad idea."

"So what do we do then?" Sango asked again. "Leaving the country is going to be hard."

"Inuyasha seemed worried about that too," Miroku stated; all business again.

Kagome thought for a moment before her face darkened. "Doesn't Inuyasha's dad live in America?"

Miroku waved his hand in a negative gesture and shook his head. "I already thought about it. From what I know of Inuyasha's father I doubt he would do anything to compromise his son and Sesshoumaru won't allow him to be contacted for some time."

Kagome made a face and lowered her head to rest on her folded arms. She looked slightly dejected. "Well I guess we _could_ say no. No amount of money is worth going to prison over, even _that_ much money."

Sango sighed and began to drum her fingers on the table. "You know Inuyasha wouldn't let us do that."

"We don't have to tell him," Kagome said.

Miroku narrowed his eyes and thought hard for a long moment before shaking his head. "Bad idea. He'd find out from someone."

"So what do we do?" Sango asked for the third time.

Miroku shot her a slightly annoyed look. "I don't know. Why don't you think of something?"

"Because I don't know what to do and don't get snappy with me because you don't either," Sango said patiently.

Miroku gave her a bland look before shaking his head and rapping his fingers on the table.

"I think that if we knew everything about what we're supposed to be stealing we could make a better decision," Kagome said slowly, staring pointedly at Miroku.

The dark haired man just grinned at her and shook his head. "Sorry. I refuse to tell you anything until I've finished gathering as much information as I can."

"Can't you tell us what's it's called?" Kagome asked pleadingly.

Miroku shook his head and Sango and Kagome pinned twin glares at him. Instead of telling them what he wanted to know he just smiled at them and shrugged.

OXOXOXOXOXO

* * *

OXOXOXOXOXO 

Inuyasha came into awareness slowly. Since he barely ever allowed himself to sleep for more than five hours he was unused to the sudden laziness that filled him. He was comfortable, warm and as far as he knew there was no reason for him to be awake. So he closed his eyes again and rolled away from the hand shaking his shoulder, falling back asleep seconds later.

Kagome sighed as Inuyasha rolled over and curled up under the blanket that she had re-tucked around him the day before. He had slept for two days and now they had to get ready to fly to Europe, more specifically, Denmark to meet a woman about a rock. Miroku had told her about the promise that he had made with Inuyasha, and although it was fun to watch Miroku hold his crotch while whimpering in pain, she had an obligation to wake the white haired male up. So Kagome gripped his shoulder and shook him again, calling his name as she did so.

"Inuyasha…you need to start packing."

He just yawned, opened his eyes and stared at her for a few seconds before he started to doze off again. Kagome sighed and grabbed both of his shoulders, pulling him up until he was in a sitting position. The hacker yawned again and seemed to come more awake, blinking his eyes open blearily.

"Hphmf?"

"We need to get ready to go," Kagome said.

Inuyasha blinked a few times and seemed to wake up a little more. "What time is it?"

"A little after noon," she answered with a little smile.

Inuyasha frowned in confusion as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Did time go backwards?"

"You've been asleep for two days and we're leaving on Friday. You need to get read--,"

Inuyasha cut her off by cursing and twisting away from her. "Shit! Two days? Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

"Miroku said--,"

"Did anyone get in contact with Myouga yet? He has contacts in Denmark that we can use. Have you made the fake Passports? Is Miroku ready yet? What the hell is wrong with you people?"

Kagome deadpanned as she watched Inuyasha try to struggle to his feet and run off to his room, but his legs got tangled in the chenille throw and he fell to the floor with an uncomfortable sounding thud. He groaned and pulled himself off of the ground, glancing back at Kagome as he did so. She raised her eyebrows and scrunched her face up in an effort to keep from laughing and he glared at her.

"Don't say anything."

Kagome nodded and closed her eyes.

"I mean it. If you say anything I'll show that movie clip to Sango and Miroku."

That caused Kagome's eyes to fly open and all her humor left her abruptly. "You will do no such thing!" she squeaked indignantly.

Inuyasha smirked at her and lazily walked away.

OXOXOXOXOXO

* * *

OXOXOXOXOXO 

Miroku couldn't help but sigh sadly as he glanced down at fake passport Inuyasha handed him. "John Smith? Why John Smith? Why not something cool like Xander or Switch?"

Inuyasha glared at him as he finished passing out the passports. "How about Bobo, like last time?" He suddenly smiled and placed his right forefinger on his chin. He turned to look at the girls, who were remembering that event as well. "Do you guys remember how the airport workers kept staring at him like he was crazy and how that boy asked him if he worked in the circus?"

Sango burst out laughing as she remembered Miroku's face when the little boy had asked his question when they had been boarding the plane. "That's the last time he's tried to beat you in Black Jack, Kagome," she said patting the woman on the shoulder.

Kagome looked immensely proud of herself. "That was a great bet wasn't it?"

Inuyasha nodded in agreement and smirked at Miroku, who merely smiled peacefully at the three of them.

"I suppose you don't want to hear where we're going exactly."

"Denmark, fool. You're not the only one that talks to Shippo," Inuyasha abolished.

Miroku made a face and sighed as he hung his head. "You guys are so mean to me. And I've let you live in my house and everything." He collapsed onto the couch and stared out the window sadly.

Kagome sat down next to him and gave him a pat on the arm. "Sorry Miroku. You know we don't mean anything by it."

Inuyasha collapsed in an arm chair off to one side and picked up the remote. He began flicking through the channels. "I do. I like being mean to him."

Kagome threw a magazine at his head. "Shut up. No one asked you."

He ducked and shot her a glare before he began flipping through channels again. Sango had seated herself next to Kagome on the couch and was examining her passport carefully.

"Are you guys sure we should be doing this so soon?" she asked, causing them to all look up at her seriously.

Inuyasha sighed and turned the TV off. "I really wish you guys would make up your mind. I'm packed and ready. I have a friend waiting for us in Hamburg."

Kagome glanced over at him, obviously thinking hard. Sango remained silent and continued to fiddle with the passport in her hands. Finally someone broke the silence.

"You know more about Sesshoumaru than all of us," Miroku stated carefully. "Do you think that he's on to what we might be doing?"

The hacker/inventor frowned before his face spilt in a large smirk. He snorted and got to his feet. "If that's what you're afraid of, don't worry about it. Sesshou is smart, but he's not _that_ smart." He began to walk back to his room, but couldn't leave without throwing an insult at them. "Jeez…bunch of paranoid freaks…"

Kagome's face twisted and she opened her mouth to spew a comeback at him but Sango slapped her hand over Kagome's mouth before she could even take a breath. When they heard the sound of Inuyasha's door slamming closed Kagome removed Sango's hand by tugging at her little finger. When she was able to speak she gave Sango an annoyed look.

"May I ask what that was about?"

"I think he feels insulted," Sango said softly glancing discreetly at the mouth of the hallway to make sure he didn't pop out again.

"Why?"

"We threatened his manliness," Miroku said from behind the magazine Kagome had thrown at Inuyasha.

Both Sango gave him a confused look and he lowered the magazine so he could peer at them expectantly. "The urge all men have to prove that they can do anything," he explained with a straight face.

The women's faces brightened and they pressed their lips together in a poor attempt not to laugh.

"All men, Miroku?" Kagome questioned with a smile.

"What about you?" Sango asked with a smile of her own curling her lips.

Miroku gave them a haughty look and wiggled his eyebrows at them. "Fear not ladies and do not doubt my manliness." His gazed shifted to Sango and he ran his eyes over her. "Would you care for a demonstration?"

Sango blushed bright red and glared at him. "Freak."

Kagome began to laugh.

OXOXOXOXOXO

* * *

OXOXOXOXOXO 

Inuyasha huffed as slammed his door closed. It's like they didn't trust him at all! Yes, he was going to make sure Sesshou caught them crossing the boarder because he wanted to go to jail that much. Ridiculous. Inuyasha scowled at the thought as he slipped his shoes off and threw them in a corner as he approached his desk.

It had taken him a long time to get this room perfect. A desk was mounted on the wall and wrapped around two walls of the room. On this desk sat his masterpieces. He wasn't even sure how long it had taken him to put this amazing, infamous, system together; he was always adding on to it.

The other half of the room was where he played the inventor part of his role. While he enjoyed inventing, he found hacking to be his passion; and if hacking was his passion, he was crazily obsessed with demolition. But all of that stuff was in the basement.

Inuyasha collapsed into his chair with a quirky smile and with the press of a single button booted up his computer. All 3 of his monitors began to glow and his CPUs all began to hum. Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and reached for the headset that had been thrown to one side. He slipped it on and just as easily, slipped onto the internet.

OXOXOXOXOXO

* * *

OXOXOXOXOXO

A young man sat at his desk, drooling on his arms as his computer glowed brightly in front of him. A digital clock next to him brightly displayed the time, 3:37 AM. The young man would have continued sleeping if his computer hadn't suddenly begun shouting at him.

"_ Christan! Answer me! I know you're not asleep, " _the person managed to say in accented German.

Christan raised his head and blinked. " Inuyasha? "

"_ Answer or I won't pay you. "_

Christan scrambled to find his headset and slipped it on as he peered at Inuyasha from the small display in the left-hand corner of his screen.

" I'm here, " he said quickly and Inuyasha frowned at him.

"_ Good. Is everything ready on your end? "_

Christan nodded and grinned at his webcam. Inuyasha had contacted him a few days ago, saying he needed to get into Denmark with as less government contact as possible. Christan had been happy to help and as long as he got paid, he'd always be happy to help in the future. Which was great for Inuyasha and his little group of thieves; they were always good about paying people.

" Everything is taken care of. "

"_ Good. The payment will go through in the next couple days. I put in a little extra for the information you gave me on my squealer. Remember to keep your mouth shut. "_

" Of course. "

The display disappeared and Christan's monitor flickered as Inuyasha disabled his connection. He hadn't even mentioned the firewall the Christan had programmed himself, to keep people like Inuyasha from accessing his files. The hacker probably hadn't noticed or had just ignored it. Christan frowned at that as he reached for his phone and began to dial the number that he had been given.

It rang and on the third ring someone picked up.

"_Yeah?"_

" Hello Kagura. "

"_ Christan, "_ the woman greeted flatly. _" I suppose you've heard from them? "_

" They'll be there within the week. "

"_ Good. Your payment will go through in the week few days. "_

" Thank you. "

He flipped his phone shut and leaned back in his chair with a happy sigh. He loved his job.

OXOXOXOXOXO

* * *

OXOXOXOXOXO 

Inuyasha disabled the connection and glowered at the computer for a moment before he grunted.

"Stupid asshole."

Inuyasha mused over the information that he had stolen from Christan's computer. As per habit, he often scanned his contacts computers, just to make sure they weren't doing anything naughty behind his back. He's always known that Christan was a sneaky bastard, but he'd never thought that he was a stupid sneaky bastard; those were the worst kind. Inuyasha smiled as he thought over the rather compromising email that he had found saved to Christan's _desktop._

Honestly! Who did Christan take him for?

Inuyasha got to his feet and stretched, letting out a wide yawn as he did so. As he walked away from his computer, he shook his head.

"Punk."

OXOXOXOXOXO

* * *

OXOXOXOXOXO**  
**

**(AN):** Oh yeah! Long chapter. Did you like it? I hope so. Updates for this story will be infrequent but the chapters will be long. Sad yes, but life sucks then you die.

I hope you enjoyed, so let me know in a review please, or a flame, those I find interesting to read.

Read and Review. No I don't own Inuyasha. Everyone meet Sparky! Say hi Sparky.

Sparky: This Sparky says hello

Peace Peoples!

OXOXOXOXO


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